| 3. Environment |
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The debate of whether to choose the
environment over development has been a serious one for almost
every country in the world, although accompanied by varying
degrees of fervor. In postwar Japan, the rapid economic growth
in the 1950s and 1960s produced serious side effects on the
nation's environment. Industrial air and water pollution caused
such tragedies as Minamata Disease.(*1) To tackle this problem,
the government enacted the Basic Law for Environmental Pollution
Control in 1967, and established the Environment Agency in 1971.
The agency was upgraded to ministry status as the Ministry of
Environment (*2), following the reorganization of the country's
administrative system in January 2001.
In November 1993, the government enacted the Basic Environment
Law (*3), which lays the foundations for a new way of managing
environmental protection by stressing the need to balance economic
activity and environmental preservation. The law symbolizes
a shift away from after-the-fact rectification in the direction
of prevention in the emphasis of Japanese environmental law.
It encourages environmental impact assessments for development
projects and calls for efforts to win the public's understanding
when economic measures, such as the taxing of polluting parties,
are adopted.
On the basis of this law, the cabinet in December 1994 decided
on a basic environment program, which envisions a society capable
of sustaining development while keeping the burden on the environment
to a minimum. In addition, in December 2000 the Cabinet decided
on a new basic environment program outlining comprehensive and
long-term measures relating to environmental preservation for
the government as a whole. The government allocated a total
of ¥2.74 trillion for environmental preservation in the
general and special account budget for fiscal 2003.(*4)
Carbon Tax Debate
In August 2003, the Ministry of Environment revealed its final
draft of carbon tax, with the goal of introducing the tax in
fiscal year 2005.(*5) The draft proposes a tax based on their
carbon content of all fossil fuels such as crude oil, natural
gas and coal handled by importers and refiners. It argues that
by taxing fossil fuels and making these major sources of carbon
dioxide less price-efficient, the release of global-warming
carbon dioxide into the atmosphere can be curbed. Under the
ministry's scheme, revenue from the tax, estimated to be around
¥1 trillion a year, will be used to fund measures to combat
global warming and help Japan meet the greenhouse-gas reduction
target it to which it committed itself under the Kyoto Protocol.(*6)
Once the global environment treaty takes effect, Japan is required
by 2008-2012 to cut its emissions of global-warming gas to 94%
of the 1990 level.(*7)
According to the ministry's proposal, tax rates will vary among
different types of fossil fuels based on the level of carbon
content. Actual rates will not be set until the government completes
its scheduled review of national countermeasures to global warming
in 2004. However, the Ministry estimates that a carbon tax of
around ¥3,400 per metric ton of carbon content, which translates
into about ¥2 per liter of gasoline, will be sufficient
to achieve the Kyoto Protocol target.
But the business community is concerned that introducing the
tax could push up energy prices further and weaken Japanese
companies' global competitiveness as they already shoulder a
financial burden totaling ¥5 trillion a year from other
energy taxes. The Ministry of Finance is also concerned that
creating a new tax revenue channel used for special purposes
could lead to fiscal rigidity.
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*1. http://www.nimd.go.jp/english/index.html
*2. http://www.env.go.jp/en/index.html
*3. http://www.env.go.jp/en/lar/blaw/index.html
*4. http://www.env.go.jp/press/press.php3?serial=3916
*5. http://www.env.go.jp/policy/tax/pdf/mat_01.pdf
*6. http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/convkp/kpeng.pdf
*7. http://www.env.go.jp/earth/ondanka/mechanism/gaiyo_k.pdf
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Air Pollution
The government enacted the Air Pollution Control Law (*1) in
1968, under which emission controls are enforced for factories
and automobiles emitting any of the following: sulfur oxides,
nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, suspended particulate matter
(SPM), photochemical oxidants, and other substances that pollute
the atmosphere. The Air Pollution Control Law has been revised
several times to further tighten regulations.
Since the enactment of the law, there has been a remarkable
improvement in the atmospheric levels of sulfur dioxides and
carbon monoxide. In fiscal year 2002 readings continuously taken
at 1,468 measuring stations showed a yearly average level of
sulfur dioxide of 0.004 ppm.(*2) The figure for carbon monoxide,
based on continuous readings from 126 stations, was 0.4 ppm.(*3)
Both figures were well below the minimum envi-ronmental quality
standards of 0.04 ppm and 10.0 ppm per day respectively.(*4)
Meanwhile, the environmental standard for nitrogen dioxide was
relaxed in 1978 from 0.04 ppm to 0.06 ppm. Although only 0.9%
of the stations measuring nitrogen dioxide in the atmosphere
showed levels exceeding this standard in fiscal year 2002, 16.5%
of the stations measuring levels of nitrogen dioxide from automobile
exhaust showed levels over 0.06ppm.(*5) As for SPM, 52.6% of
measuring stations showed atmospheric SPM levels at or below
the environmental standard of 0.10 milligrams per cubic meter
in fiscal 2002.(*6)
Tokyo Banishes Pollution-heavy Diesel
Vehicles
On October 1, 2003, Tokyo and three neighboring prefectures
introduced tough new emissions standards for diesel engines,
making the metropolitan area off-limits to trucks and buses
belching sooty emissions with large amounts of particulate matter.(*7)
Kanagawa, Chiba and Saitama Prefectures have joined Tokyo Governor
Shintaro Ishihara's campaign to banish pollution-heavy diesel
vehicles, the primary source of particulate
matter emissions that are believed to cause cancer and respiratory
disease. Ishihara's initiative has led to the new emissions
controls, which are far more advanced than national regulations.
The capital's anti-pollution move has spurred the central government
to upgrade its own diesel emissions standards and make them
the toughest in the world. The new national rules are scheduled
to take effect in 2005.(*8)
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*1. http://www.env.go.jp/en/lar/alaw/index.html
*2. http://www.env.go.jp/air/osen/jokyo_h14/rep04.pdf
*3. http://www.env.go.jp/air/osen/jokyo_h14/rep05.pdf
*4. http://www.env.go.jp/kijun/taiki.html
*5. http://www.env.go.jp/air/osen/jokyo_h14/rep01.pdf
*6. http://www.env.go.jp/air/osen/jokyo_h14/rep02.pdf
*7. http://www2.kankyo.metro.tokyo.jp/jidousya/diesel/index.htm
*8. http://www.env.go.jp/press/file_view.php3?serial=4784&hou_id=4250
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Global Warming
The world seems to be warming at an alarming rate as shown by
such ominous signs as Europe's extraordinary summer heat and
raging wildfires in the Western US in 2003. Japan, for its part,
has been participating in intergovernmental panels on climate
change, at which the issue of global warming is discussed. The
Kyoto Protocol (*1), adopted at the Third Session of the Conference
of the Parties (COP3) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate
Change (*2) held in December 1997, explicitly sets an overall
reduction target of more than 5% below the 1990 emission levels
for carbon dioxide and five other greenhouse gases among industrialized
countries during the commitment period between 2008 and 2012.
However, the protocol, which Japan ratified in June 2002 (*3),
has not yet come into force due to Russia's delay in ratification.
Emission Rights Trading
As a countermeasure to global warming, a total of 115 companies
and associations from energy, chemical, and other industries
participated in mock trading of carbon dioxide (CO2) emission
rights, which was launched by the Ministry of Economy, Trade
and Industry (METI) in February 2004.(*4) Since the industries
and associations involved account for about 80% of the nation's
total industrial CO2 emissions, the projects are likely to accelerate
the creation of domestic rules on CO2 emission-rights trading.
In the mock trades, auditing companies and environment-related
standards-certifying organizations will gauge each of the participating
firms' CO2 emission reductions as well as their emission rights.
The participants will then trade their emission rights with
METI, industry associations and local governments, in order
to help facilitate the creation of trading rules. Participants
will also look into how the government's system to register
emission-rights trades should operate, as well as how the accounts
should be settled. Furthermore, participants will discuss the
form of regulations for CO2 emissions desired to achieve the
greenhouse gas reduction goal imposed on Japan under the Kyoto
protocol. In fiscal year 2001, Japan's emission of carbon dioxide
amounted to 1.214 billion tons, or 9.53 tons per capita, a respective
increase of 8.2% and 5.0%, over fiscal 1990 figures.(*5)
The European Union is set to introduce a regional CO2 emission
trading system in 2005. Japan plans to decide rules on such
a system by the end of 2004.
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*1. http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/convkp/kpeng.pdf
*2. http://unfccc.int/
*3. http://www.env.go.jp/earth/ondanka/kikouhendou/contents.pdf
*4. http://www.meti.go.jp/kohosys/press/0004745/index.html
*5. http://www.env.go.jp/earth/ondanka/ghg/2001ghg.pdf
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Waste Management and Recycling
The volume of discarded waste in Japan continues to grow yearly.
In fiscal year 2000, households produced some 52 million tons
of waste, or an average of 1132 grams per person per day.(*1)
As lifestyles diversify, a much greater variety of items are
being disposed of, creating an acute shortage of waste disposal
sites.
In order to cut down the volume of waste, in 1995 the
government enacted a law promoting recycling of containers and
packaging, which came fully into force in 2000.(*2) The scope
of recycling has expanded with the enactment of such laws as
the Household Electric Appliance Recycling Law (*3) in April
2001, which makes the recycling of televisions, refrigerators,
washing machines, and air conditioners obligatory; the Food
Recycling Law (*4) in April 2001; the Construction Material
Recycling Law (*5) in May 2002; and the Automobile Recycling
Law (*6), which is expected to take effect by the end of 2004.
In October 2003, the government decided on a five-year plan
that calls for increasing the nation's recycling rate to 21%
from the current 16% by fiscal year 2007.(*7)
Meanwhile, the Environment Ministry plans to improve
the monitoring of illegal dumping of industrial waste from fiscal
year 2004 by working more closely with local governments. According
to the Ministry, the number of illegal industrial waste dumping
cases stood at 934 in fiscal 2002, falling to three digits for
the first time in five years.(*8) However, the total amount
of material dumped was about 320,000 tons, about 80,000 tons
more than the previous fiscal year. Illegal disposal of highly
poisonous and hard-to-treat chemical compounds, such as sulfate
pitch, has also been on the rise.
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*1. http://www.env.go.jp/recycle/waste_tech/H12/waste_disposal.doc
*2. http://www.meti.go.jp/policy/closed_loop/laws/gaiyo/yoriho/yoriho.pdf
*3. http://www.meti.go.jp/policy/kaden_recycle/ekade00j.html
*4. http://www.maff.go.jp/sogo_shokuryo/data/051syokkanshitsu/5shiryou/saisei-honbun.pdf
*5. http://www.meti.go.jp/policy/closed_loop/laws/gaiyo/kensetsu/kensetsu.html
*6. http://www.meti.go.jp/policy/closed_loop/laws/gaiyo/automobile/regaiyou.pdf
*7. http://www.env.go.jp/press/file_view.php3?serial=4965&hou_id=4398
*8. http://www.env.go.jp/press/press.php3?serial=4600
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